An Afghan vendor waits for customers at a stall in Herat on February 10, 2014. Afghanistan’s economy is recovering from decades of conflict, but despite significant improvement in the last decade, it is extremely poor and highly dependent on foreign aid. Aref Karimi / AFP photo
A rebel fighter carries his rifle down the stairs of a building in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on February 9, 2014. The civil war in Syria has claimed more than 136,000 lives and driven millions from their homes, many of whom have fled to neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, raising fears of a regional spillover of the conflict. Mohamed Abdel Rahman / AFP photo
A supporter of Tibetans living in exile and of Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) workers shouts pro-Tibetan slogans on February 10, 2014, during a peace march near Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India, The TYC held a Tibetan Uprising March from Dharamsala to Delhi to raise awareness of China’s occupation of Tibet and the hard-line policies that “stifling and destroying Tibetan culture, language, identity and spiritual traditions.” Sanjay Baid / EPA
Jikany Nuer White Army fighters brandish their weapons in Upper Nile State on February 10, 2014. South Sudan has been in turmoil since December 15, 2013, when a dispute within the army sparked fierce fighting in the capital city, Juba. Fighting spread quickly across the country and soon took on an ethnic dimension after president Salva Kiir alleged that his former vice-president, Riek Machar, was planning a coup. The fighting has pitted army forces loyal to Kiir, who is a member of the Dinka tribe, against rebel forces aligned to Machar, a member of the Nuer tribe. The Dinka tribe is the largest in South Sudan; the Nuer is the second largest and boasts a deadly tribal militia known as the ‘White Army’ because its fighters rub white ash, extracted from burnt cow dung, over their bodies. The White Army’s main role in the community historically has been to raid cattle and protect the community, but recently it has transformed into a militia used for political gain. The White Army is allegedly responsible for a January 27, 2014, attack — four days after a ceasefire was signed — that left at least 15 people dead. Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Mexican bullfighter Eulalio Lopez and the bull Compliment, weighing some 520 kilograms, tangle at the Big Season in the bullring of Mexico City on February 9, 2014. Mario Guzman / EPA